


Roommates

by duelmepharaoh (captain_indigo)



Series: Advanced Recycling [2]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh!, Yu-Gi-Oh! Series
Genre: Canon Compliant, Gen, Prequel, Soul Room(s) (Yu-Gi-Oh), i think, wow there's a tag for that
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-03
Updated: 2017-06-03
Packaged: 2018-11-08 14:59:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,103
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11084007
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/captain_indigo/pseuds/duelmepharaoh
Summary: A little scene that didn't fit the tone of the main fic. It did get referenced briefly in the new chapter though, so I decided to add it to the series. My version of Ryou meeting TKB in their soul room, takes place during Battle City.





	Roommates

     "I need the body, yadonushi."

     "Again? Why? I need to meet up with Yugi and the others."

     "Don't tell me you haven't sensed it. A new Millennium Item is almost in the city. I need- I mean _we_ need to find out who has it."

     "...I suppose."

     "You're going to hesitate now? When have I ever led you astray?"

     "You don't want me to answer that, Spirit. Very well. No funny business. And please tell me what happens this time, it's getting pretty annoying to wake up with amnesia."

     "Of course, my dear host."

 

Ryou's soul room had gotten darker. It hadn't been very bright since the car crash, and the incident with his father and the Ring hadn't helped. Still, this was a little much. The fairly normal walls and hallways had curved into musty tunnels and caverns. Sometimes they moved. Sometimes Ryou thought he saw snakes or red eyes or even entire people drifting through their deep purple surfaces like fish behind aquarium glass. Whenever he tried to look closer, they disappeared, only to gather at the edges of his vision as soon as he looked away. He tried asking the Spirit about them, but the other Bakura had clammed up with a sour look on his face. _Don't you worry your pretty little head, yadonushi._

Ryou ran his fingers along the wall as he walked. As long as he kept his eyes straight ahead, he could feel ghostly fingers brushing against his own. He even started to get flickers of sensation. Some felt distinctly human. They were all cold as the grave, but he could still sense the rage that burned behind their icy touches. Once in a great while, he would feel something that was definitely _not_ human. One he wasn't sure had fingers at all, but its touch was light as a feather when it brushed against him. One was dark, dragging, and sharp like a razor. That one left his fingertips bleeding. That one made the walls feel flimsy, like the curve of a submarine that just barely held back the crushing pressure of the inky black ocean. Ryou didn't much like that one.

 

He wondered what the Spirit was up to. He'd gotten better at peeking out through the other's eyes, but it was so exhausting he tried to save it for emergencies. Like when the Spirit was trying to kill his friends. He felt the touches again from where his hand was still pressed against the wall. Human this time. Ryou almost smiled. At least he had company in here while the other Bakura was gone.

     "I wish I knew who you all are. Or were, I suppose." He felt a flutter, like the far-off wings of many bats. "I wish I knew more about _him_ , too. We're been like this for so long, but he still only gives me the bare minimum of information." Ryou sighed and continued walking. "I know he thinks he's just using me. Maybe he is. Although if it means I can stay near my friends _and_ find out more about the Items, hopefully it's worth it. Oh well, here I am, talking to myself again." He wandered for a while, humming tunelessly. The passage widened out a bit, leading to an unfamiliar intersection. Even if it was his soul room, the Spirit's presence had been steadily adding to its size and complexity. Ryou wasn't sure he remembered what it was like to be alone in his own head anymore. He looked out of the corner of his eye, watching the figures contorting inside the walls. "I wonder if this is how Frodo felt about his Ring. I know it's a trap, but somehow I feel compelled to follow it to the end." The ghosts stilled. That was different. Ryou carefully looked towards them, but they didn't move. Finally he saw their faces, old and young, mothers, fathers, children, grandparents, all frozen as he met their gaze. He could still feel the pulsing of their fury through his palm, but in their eyes he saw only bone-aching grief. He backed away from the wall, looking up and out, spinning slowly in place as he took them in. They spread out as far as he could see, fitting their bodies together like a puzzle, but for one blank space on a far wall that drew Ryou's eyes. It was only big enough for one person, about his own size, although a bit shorter and broader. Ryou drew forward, almost unaware he had moved until his fingers rested against this person-sized emptiness. Something twisted in his throat. "He's like you? Whoever you all were, that's who he was too. Is he...is he all that's left?" A whispering rose around him, hissing past his ears and over the back of his neck. Then he felt a stabbing pain in his arm, and the world around him shifted.

 

It was too bright.

     "Bakura! What happened?"

     "J- Jounouchi? I- I don't- " Ryou looked down at his arm, blood seeping through the bandages. Everything started to go grey again, but he managed to regain his footing. Who was holding him up?

     "Don't you worry, I'll call a taxi and bring him to the hospital."

     "No, no, I'm sure I'm fine! I- "

     "You got stabbed in the arm, go get checked out at least, for heaven's sake."

     "Alright Anzu, but don't leave for the finals without me! I want to cheer on Yugi too!" Ryou was suddenly thankful for his pain tolerance. If the Spirit was plotting something, he didn't want to let his friends out of his sight for too long. Although perhaps they'd be safer with him in the hospital? He flopped into the backseat of the taxi with Yugi's grandpa. He wasn't going to pass out again. He was going to stay awake. He-

Was back in his soul room again. _Damn it._ He didn't even remember the Spirit asking for permission this time. Was he really in enough pain that he couldn't stay in control of their body anymore? It was hard to tell sometimes. He paced down the hall blindly, taking turn after turn, barely paying attention to which path he took.

     "I wouldn't mind so much if he would just- " He broke off in frustration, finally stopping and leaning heavily against the wall. The ghosts swirled beneath his hands. "I wish he would just tell me what's going on. I wish he wasn't always so bitter and withdrawn. It's exhausting. Was he always this way?" Ryou looked up, but the faces were as silent as ever. "Were you always so sad?" He leaned forwards, resting his forehead against one of the figures in front of him. They went still again, and he looked up. Something rippled soundlessly through the crowd. Where there more of them this time? Then in the space of a blink, there was only one. Ryou gazed up, fascinated. Any distraction was better than his current mood. The new figure wasn't one he had seen before, but it was definitely one he had felt. The soft, almost delicate touches were from feathers, not hands. Were those _scales?_ Its eyes were grey and blank, but Ryou could tell it was watching him. The snake-man blinked at him, and then turned, beckoning with one clawed finger before it slithered off down the corridor. Pushing away his astonishment, Ryou followed.

 

He'd never been this deep before. The walls had begun to ooze with something suspiciously like blood, and the dark purple hue had become almost black. It was getting harder to follow the snake-like creature in the gloom. Ryou glanced back over his shoulder, and shuddered at the red eyes that followed him. They hadn't gotten any closer, but neither had they retreated. Ryou could feel dark intent prickling up his spine. He hurried to catch up to the snake. He felt a little safer when it was close, somehow.

The tunnel they were following kept leading downwards until they reached a small room. Had the snake led him to a dead end? It gestured forward with its horned head, and Ryou stepped inside. The snake turned around behind him, facing the red-eyed shadow. There was still no sound, but Ryou could feel the tension humming between them in his teeth. Whatever he'd been led here for, he needed to figure it out quickly. He spun around, his gaze flitting over the room. It was empty and featureless, except for some thick columns in the center. They were dripping, great shadowy tendrils curling off of them into the air, or sliding down the sides and across the floor. Ryou was struck with the uncomfortable notion that they knew he was here. He gave them a wide berth as he circled, peering between them. There had to be some reason the creature had brought him here.

Then his heart leapt into his throat.

The silver-haired man was embedded in one of the columns as though it had formed around his body over thousands of years like some kind of horrible, oozing tree trunk. His eyes were open, but blank and unseeing, and his head rested heavily against his shoulder. His chest rose and fell, but so slowly that Ryou still thought he might be imagining it.

     "Hhhh?" Ryou croaked, his throat tight with... Fear? Excitement? He gave a short cough and tried again. "Hello?" He was sure he'd never met this person before. Why did he seem so familiar? There was no response. Ryou glanced over at the door, feeling the angry hum of energy growing. "What am I doing?" He whispered, and jumped straight for the column. The dark tendrils thrashed around him, and it took him precious moments to dodge them well enough to reach his target. No reason to hesitate now, he thought. Ryou dug his hands in under the stranger's armpits and yanked. It was like pulling something out of a mud pit, and he shifted the man's body back and forth, trying to break the seal of whatever he was stuck in. Ryou groaned with the effort, feeling the tendrils lashing around his arms and legs, trying to pull him away. "Get _off_ of me, you nasty things. I'm trying to help!" The tentacles jerked back at his words, seeming to hesitate, and that was all the chance he needed. "Thank heavens you're so scrawny," Ryou strained. With a wet sucking noise, the column gave way, and Ryou just barely managed to stay upright under the sudden weight. As he dragged the man towards the door, Ryou felt a bit of movement in his legs. "That's it, help me out a bit here." The red-eyed shadow hissed angrily, retreating before the winged snake as they struggled forwards out of the room.

By the time they reached the safer, more familiar tunnels, Ryou was sweating under the weight of the silver-haired man. Finally, the giant snake stopped. It looked down at Ryou, blinking slowly. Its nod meant something important, but Ryou was to exhausted to figure out what as it disappeared back into the walls. Seeing no red eyes nearby, Ryou propped the man up, gasping in relief.

     "Who?" Ryou jumped. The man's eyes were coming back into focus, and his voice was nothing but a soft rasp.

     "My name's Ryou. What's yours? Are you ok?"

The man tilted his head weakly to look up at the familiar figures that surrounded them.

     "Don't remember. Where- " He coughed roughly.

     "We're in my soul room. Are you part of the Ring Spirit?"

     "Your body?"

     "Yes, it's my body, but the Spirit is using it right now, so I'm in here."

The man just nodded, continuing to gaze into the walls. One of the ghosts, an older woman, floated forward and brushed her fingertips where the man's hair rested against the wall. His face twisted for a moment, but he tried to raise his arm. Seeing how weak he was, Ryou reached down and placed a gentle hand under the man's elbow, helping him reach up to touch the wall. The man tensed, but allowed the contact. A shiver ran through the walls again, and the spirits began to disperse.

     "What do you call him?" The man's grey eyes had finally drifted back to Ryou's face.

     "Well, he calls me yadonushi, or host. I call him Spirit, or the other Bakura."

The man snorted.

     "So you're my landlord? Might as well call me Bakura too."

     "Are you him?"

     "More or less."

     "Could you call me Ryou?"

Bakura's mouth pinched.

     "Trust me, yadonushi. It's better for your sake if I don't."

**Author's Note:**

> I mean it was _supposed_ to be a short scene, and then it got as long as a regular chapter. Oh well!


End file.
